Jaclyn’s Review: The Amateurs by Sara Shepard

The Amateurs 
written by Sara Shepard
published by Disney-Hyperion, 2016

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iBooks, Target, Walmart, Book Depository, Goodreads

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Did I enjoy this book: First let me say, I do NOT read a book series until the whole series is published (at least, not if I can help it). I was really skeptical about starting this book since I was going in with an obvious bias. This book is also billed as a great read for someone who liked the Pretty Little Liars series. Since I didn’t care for that, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like this one. Big surprise! This was a good read! I thought it was a great “whodunit” kind of book. It wasn’t horribly gory, and the plot kept moving at a good pace. I liked the characters–they were revealed slowly, which makes sense for book 1 of a series. I found myself binge reading toward the end, because I just HAD to figure out who did it!

Would I recommend it: I would recommend this, despite being book 1 of a series. This would be a good read for a mature pre-teen to get them into the murder mystery genre. There was some violence, but nothing out of control or inappropriate. I would consider reading the next books in this series–which is really saying something!

 

About the book – from Goodreads: I need some answers about my sister. Help…

Five years ago, high school senior Helena Kelly disappeared from her backyard in Dexby, Connecticut, never to be heard from again. Her family was left without any answers—without any idea who killed Helena, or why.

So when eighteen-year-old Seneca Frazier sees a desperate post on the Case Not Closed message board, she knows it’s time to change that. Helena’s high-profile disappearance is the one that originally got Seneca addicted to true crime. It’s the reason she’s a member of the site in the first place.

Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, she agrees to spend spring break in Connecticut working on the case with Maddy Wright, her best friend from Case Not Closed. However, the moment she steps off the train, things start to go wrong. Maddy’s nothing like she expected, and Helena’s sister, Aerin, doesn’t seem to want any help after all. Plus, Seneca has a secret of her own, one that could derail the investigation if she’s not careful.

Alongside Brett, another super-user from the site, they slowly begin to unravel the secrets Helena kept in the weeks before her disappearance. But the killer is watching…and determined to make sure the case stays cold.